SFB Games on Snipperclips Plus: Cut it Out, Together!

We sit down with the creative minds behind one of Switch's early hits.

By
Filip Miucin

The original Snipperclips was an early smash hit on the Switch's eShop. Its light-hearted, creative, and approachable gameplay paved the way in terms of digital exclusive titles on the newly-opened store.

In celebration of its brand new DLC and physical storefront release Snipperclips Plus, we sat down with brothers Tom and Adam Vian of SFB Games, creators of Snipperclips and Snipperclips Plus, to gain some insight into their creative process for this version and what plans the studio may have for the future.

Of the 40 new puzzles in Snipperclips Plus, were there any you originally considered using in the main game, or are they entirely new ideas?

Adam: When we finished Snipperclips, we had a few levels left over, quite a few. However, I would say almost all of the content that ended up in Snipperclips Plus ended up being developed from scratch this year. We actually came up with more new ideas than we thought we would. There’s a couple of levels, one I’m thinking of in particular that’s kind of a spiritual successor to levels in the main Snipperclips. But apart from that, we tried to think up brand new things from scratch.

Can you tease what any of those ideas might be?

Adam: There’s a level which has been shown in one of the trailers where you have to climb up the inside of two towers using your characters. It builds on something that’s in World 1 of the original Snipperclips. So I’ll let you see that one for yourself when you play the game.

Would you say that the new Blitz Modes are intended for more experienced players, or are they easily accessible for new players as well?

Tom: The new blitz modes are about the same level of difficulty as the old blitz modes.

Adam: I would say they’re a mixture of a both. They’re a relaxing break from the main game while sort being the most competitive part of the game. It’s really whatever you want to do with it.

Tom: But throughout the whole of the expansion we had an aim to not raise the difficulty level much higher than any single level in the original Snipperclips, to try and make stuff more interesting and not more difficult.

How did feedback from both fans and reviews of the original main game impact Snipperclips Plus?

Tom: We spent a few weeks just watching people play the game on YouTube post-launch. That was our work day, just enjoying that. So we absorbed a lot of it. Just seeing how differently people played, seeing how Nintendo themselves played, and what they found difficult and enjoyable. It all formed the design of Snipperclips Plus.

Adam: I think we felt more comfortable knowing what kind of levels were more popular than others. Two things specifically for me: seeing if there were certain go-to shapes that people would cut out a lot. We tried to think of levels where that shape would not solve the level. We tried to think of levels that would require different shapes and obviously got better. The other thing, as Tom mentioned: was just getting a real gauge on how people responded to difficulty at certain levels. Understanding that more thoroughly.

Have you started to think about your next project, whether it's more Snipperclips or a different project entirely?

Tom: We already have another project that we’re going to be working on. It’s actually something we started a couple years ago and put on pause because of starting Snipperclips because we had to get that game made.

Adam: It’s exclusively an SFB project. We’re busy doing other things, but we would love to work with Nintendo again.

Tom: Yeah, absolutely. We’re already thinking up some new ideas.

Adam: We’ve got hundreds of ideas.

Snipperclips: Cut it out together! is now available as a full download on the eShop or at retail for $29.99. If you already own the original eShop game can buy the Plus DLC separately for $9.99.